Okinawa Fubutsu (Views of Okinawa)Keisuke Serizawa, 1948

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Serizawa Keisuke:Okinawa Fubutsu (Views of Okinawa), Japan, Showa 23 (1948), 8 1/2 x 10 1/2 in, dark blue covers, continuous sheet foldout (Japanese orihon style) format with a series of panels and a total expanded length of 157 inches (excluding blank pages). There are a total of 22 panels (19 with stencil art and 3 blank). Most images span two leaves but one image spans four leaves. The colophon is a single leaf. The inside of the front and back covers are blank pages and the page opposite the front cover is blank. The book illustrates various folk crafts of Okinawa with the focus on bingata textiles. The illustrations are created through the application of colors using a stencil dying technique which Serizawa was noted for. Serizawa's technique, known as "Katazome" or stencil dyeing, was a pioneering effort in this field of color illustrations. He used paper cutout patterns then applied colors to the stencils. The resulting illustrations appear very similar to the bingata process most often found on textile products of Okinawa. Printed in a very limited quantity of 150 copies (so stated in the colophon).

Binding style. The book is bound in the accordion style where all the pages can be viewed as a panorama when the book is completely unfolded. In this style of binding (nobiru gajo) the printed pages are folded and then tipped together at both edges. In this book the printing is only on one side of the page. The backs of the printed pages are completely blank.

Individual panels from this book were also marketed. The Shuri image which spans two panels in the book has been confirmed stenciled as a single sheet.

Many of the scenes found in this book were depicted in a stencil dyed paper, 61 1/4 x 27 3/4 in, hanging scroll which is known as "The Great Market in Naha City, Okinawa." That work is said to date to 1940.

Panels Folded Out

The book is presented from back to front in Japanese style. Below is a summary of the panels.

In 1956 Serizawa was designated by the Government of Japan as a "Living National Treasure" (intangible cultural asset) for his "Mingei" (folk art) work using hand-stenciled dyeing (katazome) techniques. Serizawa visited Okinawa several times and learned the famed Ryukyu bingata method of stencil dyeing. His first visit was in 1938 where he studied bingata techniques under Katatsue-ya in Naha. He carried this traditional technique into his folk art work. Okinawan designs are frequently seen in his work. In addition, Serizawa merged Chinese floral dyeing methods and South Pacific batik methods into his work. Serizawa's works cover an wide field. His designs were reproduced for use as book cover illustrations, and newspaper and magazine illustrations. His folk art applications included kimono and obi cloth, paper prints, wall hangings/scrolls, folding screens, curtains, fans, shochibubai (pine, bamboo and plum blossoms hangings considered to bring good luck) and calendars. A unique feature of his work has been described in these terms:

The distinguishing trait of Serizawa's katazome method is the use of the starch mixture to create, not a colored area as is current in direct-dyeing process, but a blank, undyed one that forms a part of the pattern and that can later be colored by hand in multi-color or monochrome as the designer sees fit. Keisuke Serizawa, the Stencil Artist, Volume 1, 1967

It is my understanding that the stencil dyeing procedures are:

Using a stencil, areas to be left uncolored are covered with a dye resistant starch paste (nori tsuke).

Colors are then applied by dipping or brushing, generally from lighter to darker colors. Serizawa generally used traditional vegetable dyes and seldom used chemical dyes.

After these colors have dried, the key design (key stencil) is used to apply the main design (iro sashi).

The paste is washed off (mizu ari) and the material dried in the sun (harika).

A brochure describing the stencil-dyed paper process published by the Takumi Craft Show, Tokyo, is here.

An interesting aspect of this process is the use of every day items. For example, the dye resistant paste was generally made from boiled rice (combined with lime). The inks (generally vegetable dyes), particularly black were mixed with tofu water, a by-product in the making of curd from soy beans, to give richer color and indelibility.

Serizawa was a leading member of the Mingei (folk craft) movement founded in 1926 by Soetsu Yanagi, Shoji Hamada and Kanjiro Kawai. The Serizawa Keisuke Art and Craft Museum at Tohoku Fukushi University in Sendai has a large and specialized collection of his work. The Mingei International Museum of Folk Art located in Balboa Park, San Diego, California, has an important collection of works by Serizawa. Serizawa also donated several items to the museum which were not his own works but of important cultural significance.

Books Relating to Keisuke Serizawa

Serizawa Books: In Keisuke Serizawa it is stated that:

Keisuke Serizawa has produced numerous masterpieces in illustrated books sometimes in Japanese and other times in contemporary western style, including Don Quixote, Vincent Van Gogh, A Day at Mashiko, Ainu Art and Butsuge (poems of Soetsu Yangi). Over three hundred limited editions reveal his vast knowledge of human psychology as well as of the natural world and are highly prized among collectors. 1979 Mingei Catalogue at page 9.

Despite the fact that numerous books were apparently produced, they are seldom seen. I am aware of the following books.

1967 & 1968, Keisuke Serizawa, The Stencil Artist, Volume 1 and Volume 2, Tokyo, Tsukiji Shokan Publishing Company, Ltd, distributed by Maruzen Co. Ltd, 1967 (Vol. 1) and 1968 (Vol 2), large 8vo (9 x 11 1/2 in - 22.8 x 29.2 cm), tan (Vol 1) and red (Vol 2) textured cloth with gilt decoration on covers and gilt decoration on covers and gilt lettering on spine, issued with cardboard slip cases but no dust jackets. The volumes read Japanese style from back to front except for the pages in English which read front to back. The volumes are unpaginated but the number of pages in both volumes is approximately 264 pages (118 pages in Vol 1 and 146 pages in Vol 2). There are a total of 352 images (22 color and 330 black and white). In this work "plates" are the same as images. The color plates are tipped in and were produced utilizing the color halftone process. The black and white plates are produced by the halftone process also. Many pages have more than one image ("plate") per page and some images span two pages. Each image is assigned a number and has a descriptive caption in Japanese. Several of the images are related to Okinawa. Both volumes have an attached ribbon marker. Each colophon has a small stencil illustration which probably was the work of Serizawa. For information on this set, click here. Volume 1 and 2 are available, see below.

2001, Serizawa, Master of Japanese Textile Design, Sendai, Japan, Tohoku Fukushi University, Serizawa Keisuke Art and Craft Museum, 2001, oblong 8vo (9 1/2 x 10 in), illustrated stiff paper wraps, illustrated dust jacket, 190+ items pictured in color, Japanese and English text, 133 pp. A catalogue for an exhibition of Keisuke Serizawa's work held August 11 through November 4, 2001 in the National Museums of Scotland. The exhibition items are followed by a biography (chronological listing of key events in Serizawa's life), an essay on "The Art of Serizawa Keisuke" by Hamada Shukuko, an essay on the "Kataezome Technique" and a "List of Works" where each of the 191 numbered items pictured are discussed in more detail including the year produced. A comprehensive illustrated presentation of Serizawa's work spanning all formats including kimono, obi, noren, screens, calendars (1946 calendar shown), stenciled paper (The Great Market in Naha City, Okinawa is shown), wall hangings, scrolls, book type illustrated stories, magazine covers, book covers and cases and paintings on glass. Includes messages from Mark Jones, Sir Hugh Cortazzi, Lord Blackenham, His Excellency Hayashi Sadayui and Serizawa Chosuke. ISBN 4-901459-06-6